Journalist launches SMS news service in Goa

BY Frederick Noronha| IN Digital Media | 16/05/2005

While the email based breaking news service would be free, the SMS service would cost Rs 100 per month.

Frederick Noronha

PANAJI. Goa-based journalist Niraj Naik has launched a cyber-based `breaking news service`, a service which he said would report on news as it emerges via SMS alerts, electronic mail and a website.

Goa, India`s smallest state with a population of just 1.4 million, has a significantly large expat population, and Naik said the news service would also break stories globally.

Naik`s venture adds to the growing media in a state which has three English-language dailies, around half-a-dozen in Marathi, and one in Konkani. Most are medium to small in size, but the scattered state has also seen the growth of `free sheeters` that are distributed free to diverse localities and have their costs supported entirely by advertising.

In recent months, Goa saw the launch of three cable-TV services, which, in the absence of a dedicated local television station to cater to the small market, put out half-hour or less daily news bulletin via cable satellite operators. These are copied on CD (compact disk) and circulated in various urban and semi-urban parts of the state.

?We are using (Internet Service Provider) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited`s bulk-mailing facilities to send out SMSs and email. It costs me 40 paise per SMS,? Naik told this correspondent.

Naik sees ?each medium as having its own advantages and disadvantages? and said that the SMS-to-mobile service had possibilities of breaking news instantly.

News reports and photos of major developments will be uploaded on the venture`s digitalgoa.com website and will be simultaneously posted to the e-mail users and Goa centric mailing lists across the globe free of cost, he said.

While the email based service would be free, the SMS service would cost Rs 100 per month. ?We`ve got a very good response since our launch,? Naik claimed.

In addition, the journalist-turned-media entrepreneur has earlier launched an online `yellow pages` for Goa, and the option of small-entrepreneurs setting up low-cost `one page websites`.

?We expect to register thousands of such profiles of businesses and professionals in this directory, which is classified into hundreds of categories, in the days to come. This facility will help them to leverage information technology for business growth,? added Naik.

Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industries chief Nitin Kunkolienkar launched Naik`s venture in state-capital Panaji.

TAGS

SMS

Subscribe To The Newsletter

Media Watch Briefs

Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.